I had written before (here) that I do not believe it is possible for a Christian to lose his salvation. We do nothing to earn it; we do nothing to keep it. I mentioned the above passage in my other post but I wanted to explore it a little more.
Jesus said that whosoever drinks the water He gives will have eternal life and will NEVER thirst again. Here is the passage in its original language followed by my own translation:
ὃς δ’ ἂν πίῃ ἐκ τοῦ ὕδατος οὗ ἐγὼ δώσω αὐτῷ, οὐ μὴ διψήσει εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα,
“But whosoever should drink of the water which I will give him will in no way thirst ever.”
Once again we see the use of the use of the emphatic, double negative οὐ μὴ (ou mē). As discussed before (here), the full force of the emphatic, double negative is difficult to express in English. We can get an idea when we consider some of the instances where it is used. Look at these verses where the term is translated as “in no wise” (KJV):
“For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” Matthew 5:18
“And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.” Matthew 10:42
“All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” John 6:3
You can see in these examples how Jesus is establishing permanency or making an absolute assurance that what He says will come to pass.
So, when we look back to John 4, Jesus is making this same claim of certainty. The water He gives becomes eternal life. The one who drinks of His water will NEVER thirst. There are no conditions, exceptions, or equivocations. If you have drunk of this water, you will never thirst again lest Jesus be a liar!
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